Vietnam to give soft loans for coffee replanting

Vietnam’s state-run Agribank will provide soft loans for coffee replanting until 2020 as part of a drive to replace old trees to boost output in the world’s largest producer of the robusta bean.

Farmers in the five-province Central Highlands coffee belt could take up to 150 million dong ($6,900) per hectare for a maximum eight years to replace old low-yielding trees, the State Bank of Vietnam said in a statement.

The loan could carry a maximum interest rate of 7 percent per annum, compared with a range of 9.0-10.0 percent charged by banks for medium- and long-term dong loans now.